


Bonded: Rise of the Titans(HIATUS)

by Pocket_Kaiju



Category: Godzilla (2014), Godzilla - All Media Types, Godzilla: King of The Monsters (2019)
Genre: Adventure, Bonded Universe, Cryptozoology, F/F, Gen, Kaiju, Mothra is best mom, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Project Monarch (Legendary | MonsterVerse), Rodan has PTSD, Sequel, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:56:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22087510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pocket_Kaiju/pseuds/Pocket_Kaiju
Summary: It’s been two years since the defeat of King Ghidorah. Cara and her friends now officially work with Monarch to keep the peace between Titans and humans. But the threat of human extinction has hardly faded out of possibility. Just because Ghidorah is gone doesn’t mean the fight for Earth is over.
Relationships: Godzilla/Mothra friendship - Relationship
Comments: 88
Kudos: 60





	1. Hellfire Unleashed

The wilds of the Amazon rainforest were a marvel to Dr. Stephen Dearing.

Ever since he was a little boy, he had dreamt of exploring its depths. To discover things unknown, creatures and plants that had never been seen by the human eye...it was a prospect that he would stop at nothing to accomplish. A goal that he swore he’d get to one day.

Now, that day was happening right before his eyes.

He stared in wonder at the majesty of the jungle around him, unable to hide his child-like excitement. It was humid, and beads of sweat were sticking to his forehead and cheeks, but he barely gave the discomfort any mind-nothing could ruin this day for him.

“So, where do you want to go first?” A man walked over to him. “I think we should stay on the outskirts, just in case something goes wrong and we can make a quick getaway.”

“Are you serious?” Dr. Dearing gave the man an incredulous look. “After all we’ve done to get here, you want to stay on the _outskirts_? Clark, where’s your sense of adventure?”

His childhood friend grinned-they had grown up through life together, attending the same high school and college, both majoring in their area of talent: biology. “My sense of adventure hasn’t gone anywhere. But I also know we should have a sense of safety, too. There’s animals in there that are extremely dangerous.”

“We have our guides to help us with that.” Dr. Dearing motioned to the small group of men gathered not too far away. “They know the paths well. We’ll be safe.”

“What about that Titan, though?” Clark questioned. “Behemoth or something. It’s been seen around here lately, and I don’t want to run into it.”

“The probability of running into it is zero to none.” Dr. Dearing adjusted his backpack and smoothed his spiky hair into his cap. “We’ll have more luck spotting an albino jaguar. Come on, Clark, don’t tell me your _scared_.”

Clark’s eyes glinted. “Me, scared?” he asked playfully. “Never. If I remember correctly, it was _you_ who was terrified of the woods behind our neighborhood when we were kids.”

“We were _ten_ , Clark.”

“Doesn’t matter, dude.” Clark gave him a friendly shove, then walked past him to their guides. “You were still scared.”

Dr. Dearing shook his head and followed with a smile. They always had a sort of rivalry, the two of them. And he was never one to back out of a challenge to prove he was the braver.

The group headed into the jungle, leaving the outside world behind. Dr. Dearing walked with a spring in his step, a smile on his face.

He had a feeling he was going to discover something no human had ever witnessed before.

———————

It was getting dark when Clark told Dr. Dearing that they should start heading back. The little sunlight that was filtering through the thick canopy was almost completely gone now, leaving them with limited vision.

“Just a few more minutes,” he begged. “I still have some photos to take.”

“Come on, Steve, the guides are complaining.” Clark pointed to the grumbling men, some of them muttering angry profanities in a language he didn’t understand. “We can come back tomorrow. Remember, we’re still going to be here for another two days.”

Dr. Dearing sighed. He reluctantly shut off his camera and began to trail after his friend and their group.

Something to the right caught his eye.

He stopped and turned to look.

Glinting on the ground, just barely visible beneath the forest plants, was a silver disk.

Curious, he hesitantly went to pick it up. When it didn’t budge, he brushed away the dirt and leaves and shown his pocket flashlight upon it.

It appeared to be some sort of plate that was embedded into the ground. Etched into its surface was what looked to be some sort of divine insect.

“What is this?” he murmured to himself.

Another glint from further ahead made him look up. He held up his flashlight and took out his knife, cutting his way through the foliage.

Another disk, with the same exact symbol. And ahead, more. It appeared to be a path, leading deeper into the jungle.

All thoughts on Clark and the others were forgotten. Dr. Dearing followed the path.

He was out of breath by the time he reached the last plate. For a moment, he doubled over onto his knees, catching his breath.

He looked up to take in his surroundings, and his jaw dropped.

Nestled in the trees, covered in vines, was a huge temple.

“Oh my god,” he breathed.

The structure drew him closer like a moth to a light. Dr. Dearing snapped a few photos, his eyes wide with wonder. This was it. This was the fantastic finding he had been waiting for! He was going to be credited for the discovery of what could possibly be a previously unknown civilization!

Carefully, he made his way into the building. It was ancient, with low ceilings and slimy walls. He had trouble finding footing on the crumbling floor, nearly stumbling at moments as he continued down the narrow tunnel.

A few times, he took some photos. Numerous moments, he saw the symbol of the same insect from the disks on the walls. Underneath them were inscriptions, written in a language he didn’t recognize.

“Amazing,” he murmured to himself. He would be sure to ask Clark about the inscriptions later. His friend was a much better expert on ancient languages than he was.

The tunnel began to get wider, and soon, he found himself entering a huge chamber. The ceiling rose high above him, forming a sort of dome. In front of him, the floor sloped down into a drop, a deep pit with straight-leveled walls on all sides instead of the one he stood by. He bent down and examined the pit, taking photos. It reminded him of a kind of dug-up trap; whoever had created this had the intentions of trapping people in this chamber with no way to get out.

Dr. Dearing stood up. He took in the chamber, noticing for the first time a stone pedestal to his right. Curious, he went over to it.

More strange words, though this time they resembled English letters. Dr. Dearing ran his hand over the stone, mumbling them under his breath.

Something in the chamber rumbled.

Dr. Dearing froze.

The floor beneath him shook, and dust came raining down on his head. Dr. Dearing stumbled back, puzzlement quickly turning into fear at what he saw.

Across the pit, in a divot in the wall, something was moving. Something huge. Something _alive_.

_“Who...dares...enter my temple…”_

A chill ran down his spine. The voice was raspy, clawing at the air with angry contempt. It didn’t sound like it’s owner had spoken in a long, long time.

_“A...human?”_ the voice growled. _“In_ my _home? Despicable...disgusting..._ insect! _How_ dare _you awaken me?”_

“W-Who are you?” Dr. Dearing yelled. He turned in a circle, trying to spy if there was anyone else in the chamber with him. The temple shook again, and a strange, chittering hiss came from across the pit.

He turned and peered at the thing moving in the hole in the wall, not even noticing the words he had just spoken on the pedestal were glowing a sickly green.

Long, jagged forelegs extended slowly out of the darkness of the divot, gripping the lip. A gigantic creature moved into his sight, extending its fiery wings. _“Who am I? I am the guardian of the Earth. The savior of creation. The planet’s Messiah, the judge and executioner,_ your _kind’s doom._

Dr. Dearing fell, blown back by a gust of wind sent out by the creature’s wings as they flapped. Two dark red eyes opened to glare down at him, heated with rage.

_“I am Battra.”_


	2. A New World

The world had changed. It wasn’t difficult to realize that. After Boston, life had become different. Humanity now had to learn how to coexist peacefully with the giant beasts that had come forth from the earth. The Titans were dangerous, that was a fact-but they were also intelligent. More intelligent than anyone had previously thought. But neither race could understand each other, due to the obvious language barrier between them. How were they supposed to share the world if Titans and humans couldn’t communicate?

Fortunately, there were people to help solve this problem.

Sometimes Cara wished she weren’t one of these people.

_“But he STARTED IT!”_ the female MUTO roared, her eyes glaring a furious red. _“He entered MY territory and didn’t LISTEN when I told him to GET OUT!”_

Cara sighed, silently praying for the patience to deal with this issue without exploding. “Yes, Kage, I am aware of what happened. However, you can’t just start fighting so close to human towns. Do you know how many people could’ve been hurt?”

Kage hissed, saliva dripping from her fangs. Once, she had utterly terrified Cara. Now, she was one of Cara’s best friends-not much older than her, actually. But the huge monster had a short fuse, and like any angsty teenager, blew up with the drop of a hat. A potentially devastating disaster for nearby villages.

“You need to control your temper, Kage. What Methuselah did was wrong, but the two of you can handle this peacefully. You don’t want anyone getting hurt, right?”

Kage eyed the other Titan angrily. Methuselah didn’t look like he had a care in the world about whether he was in her territory or not; the mountain-like monster was chewing idly on a mouthful of trees, not even bothering to look at the MUTO.

“Methuselah?” Cara prompted. “Can you tell Kage _why_ you came into her territory?”

Methuselah continued to chew, inclining his head to them as a signal that he would eventually reply. Kage shifted impatiently, grumbling under her breath.

Finally, he swallowed and turned to look at them with agonizing slowness. _“Am I not allowed...to visit another Titan?”_ he asked. _“I thought we were...a civilized people. Is it against our customs to show...friendliness to each other?”_

_“No, but it_ is _against our customs to just barge in without a blasted invitation!”_ Kage answered. _“By the gods, Methuselah, sometimes I wonder if there is any thought going on in that thick skull of yours!”_

Methuselah winced, looking hurt. _“There is no need...to offend me, Kage. If you didn’t want me around...you could have just told me.”_

_“I DID!”_ Kage yelled, pure frustration dripping from every word. _“AND YOU JUST IGNORED ME!”_

“Alright, alright, that’s enough!” Cara stood between them and held up her hands. “No more fighting! Remember, you guys are supposed to figure this out _peacefully_!”

_“Peaceful...is not how we settle our arguments,”_ Methuselah explained. _“When we argue...we fight.”_

“Well, you can’t do that anymore. Not with entire human towns at stake of being destroyed.” Cara crossed her arms. “If you two can’t settle this maturely, I’m going to have to ask the king to come here and help.”

Kage chirped fearfully, her eyes widening. _“Do not call the king!”_ she cried. _“He will surely kill me if he comes here! You know he is prejudiced against my kind!”_

“He’s not prejudiced against your kind, Kage, you just do happen to be a Titan his species regularly hunts.” Cara sighed. “Listen, if you two can work this out _without_ causing chaos, than I won’t ask the king to come. I’m giving you two hours, no less.”

_“It is fine, Cara.”_ Methuselah stood up. _“I shall leave. Kage...I will only return here if you invite me.”_

Kage blinked, then dipped her head. _“See that you do.”_

Methuselah began to slowly walk away, each step he took shaking the ground. He smiled at Cara kindly. _“It was good to see you, Cara. Give the queen...my regards.”_

Cara nodded. “I will. Thank you, Methuselah.”

She and Kage watched him leave. When he was out of sight, the MUTO mumbled an apology. _“Sorry. It is hard to keep my temper under check, sometimes.”_

“It’s fine, Kage. Just please make sure this doesn’t happen again. I have enough things to worry about already.”

Kage tilted her head. _“Are you stressed?”_

“Very,” Cara answered. “We’re still trying to figure out what to do about Boston. The radiation’s still too bad there for rebuilding to begin, and there are tons of people without homes.”

_“I’m sure everything will work out,”_ Kage said. _“My mother used to tell me that all the bad times are temporary. I am positive that Boston will be habitable again soon.”_

Cara smiled up at her. “Thanks, Kage. You always know what to say to make me feel better.”

Her smart watch suddenly vibrated, and she looked to see what had caused it. The text that had popped up made her frown. “Ugh, I gotta go.”

_“A new mission?”_ Kage said.

“Yup. Apparently I’m needed back at HQ.”

_“I hope everything goes well. Stay safe.”_ Kage gave her an affectionate nudge with her snout. _“I’ll try to keep my anger in check, for you and humanity.”_

“Thanks, Kage.” Cara smiled up at her. “I’ll see you later.”

She headed the way Methuselah went, leaving the forest that Kage called home, heading out onto a narrow dirt path. She trekked along it for a while, before eventually walking into a huge clearing. The sky above her was a perfect blue, with large puffy clouds rolling lazily by.

Cara shielded her eyes from the sun. It was hot, a blistering 80 degrees, and sweat was running down her cheeks and back. She had no idea how Kage managed through this heat during the summer.

A glint from above. Cara focused in on it, smiling when she saw a rapidly descending mass coming right for her.

She took a few steps back. Mothra raised her wings and flapped, the trees rustling madly as she touched down with elegant grace only she could pull off.

_“So?”_ the queen of the monsters said. _“How did it go?”_

“Surprisingly well.” Cara ran over to the massive Titan and flung herself into her snow-white fur, breathing in her scent of pine needles and fresh air. Mothra twittered happily, nuzzling her with motherly tenderness.

_“I presume Kage and Methuselah are on good terms?”_ Mothra asked.

Cara lifted her face out of her fur. “Yup. Managed to prevent another crisis. They’ve both agreed to behave, at least for now.”

_“I am proud of you, my child,”_ Mothra praised. _“You have grown so much over the course of two years. The world is lucky to have you.”_

“Don’t forget about the others,” Cara said. “Noah and Eddie have grown up a lot, too.”

_“Ha!”_ Mothra chuckled. _“Eddie and Noah are as reckless as when I first met them! The three of you are quite the group, I must say!”_

Cara laughed along with her. “Okay, okay, so maybe they haven’t grown _that_ much. But we’re still kids. Even if we do work with Monarch, that doesn’t mean we have to act like adults.”

_“True,”_ Mothra nodded. _“And I am happy that you said that. Do not grow up too soon, my child. To stay young is bliss.”_

Cara’s smart watch vibrated again. She didn’t bother to look at it; she already knew who it was. “We gotta go. HQ’s calling us in.”

_“Another task for us?”_ Mothra’s eyes twinkled with excitement. _“Splendid! Let us head out now!”_

The great moth lowered her wing. Cara climbed on with the skill of an expert, strapping herself into the saddle that Monarch had specially created for Mothra, with her Titan’s consent. “Alright. Let’s fly!”

Mothra raised her wings, lifting off into the air. She wheeled around and took off, the ground shrinking as they left Japan behind them. Cara let out a whoop of joy, raising her arms into the air, enjoying the feeling of the wind against her face. She would never get enough of flying-it was the most amazing feeling, a mix of healthy fear and stomach-dropping amazement, as they rose high above the clouds, where no one could reach them, where they were truly free.

After a while, Mothra swooped downward, breaking through the line of clouds. Below them, Castle Bravo stood imposingly. The Monarch base-disguised-oil-rig had been their home for a majority of the past two years, and was now a familiar place to Cara. Mothra tucked her wings close and dived, landing soundlessly on the landing strip used by Monarch fighter jets.

Cara unbuckled herself and slid off of Mothra’s back. Her neck warmed and tingled with energy as her Titan reverted to her dormant form and traveled into her body. Her Bonded tattoo shone momentarily.

Two people were waiting for her-Dr. Chen and Dr. Graham. She had grown quite close to the two scientists ever since she and her friends had officially joined Monarch. They were voices of guidance to her, figures in her life who were always willing to help her and Mothra out. She went over to them, and Dr. Chen pulled her into an inviting hug.

“How was everything?” Dr. Graham asked.

“Good,” Cara answered. “No fights. Methuselah agreed to ask Kage for permission to enter her territory, and Kage said she would work on controlling her temper.”

“Thank goodness,” Dr. Graham said, sighing with relief.

“Thank you for talking to them on such short notice,” Dr. Chen said. “I know it was out of the way, but you were the only one who would accept the call.”

“Really?” Cara said, surprised. “Where’s Madison?”

“She’s been locked up in her room all day,” Dr. Chen answered. “Hasn’t answered her phone. I think she might still be attempting to track down her mother.”

Her mother. Cara immediately understood. Dr. Emma Russell had been missing since the battle against Ghidorah in Boston. No one in Monarch had seen or heard from her in two years. The public deemed her a terrorist, for purposely releasing Titans all across the world, resulting in destruction and death. Monarch saw her as a traitor; she had sided with the enemy, actively working against them to achieve a goal that would have ultimately resulted in human extinction. To this day, Monarch was still on the search for her to bring her to justice. But Dr. Russell was sneaky, and had managed to evade capture. Cara didn’t care about her. But she did feel bad for Madison, who had to live with the knowledge that her mother was a dangerous criminal. Her friend was obsessed with finding her before anyone else did-and as a result, was slacking on her duties as a Bonded.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Cara said. “She’ll let me in. Tell Noah and Eddie to meet up with us, too.”

The scientists nodded. They said their goodbyes, and Cara hurried over to what seemed to be a regular wall. She held up the Monarch ID hanging around her neck. There was a pause, then a jolt of motion as the wall suddenly divided and revealed a secret elevator inside.

_“Must Monarch be so secretive?”_ Mothra asked as Cara stepped into the elevator. The doors closed, and machine smoothly began to move deeper into Castle Bravo.

“It’s to keep us safe,” Cara replied.

Mothra snorted. _“Safe from what, exactly? Who would attempt to infiltrate an oil rig?”_

“I don’t know, eco-terrorists? The government? Dr. Russell? You can’t be sure.”

The elevator eased to a halt, and the doors opened. Cara walked out onto the dorm level, nodding to a few people who were mingling together in the hall. She turned left and stopped at a door with the name ‘M. Russel’ on it. She took a deep breath, then knocked.

“Go away!” the inhabitant within snarled.

“Maddie, it’s me!” Cara yelled. “Can you let me in?”

A pause, followed by the sound of papers shuffling and a drawer being slammed. The door clicked open, and Madison appeared in the doorway.

She looked horrible. Dark bags hung under her eyes, and her hair stood all over the place. The miserable frown that she had been wearing was quickly replaced by a tired smile. “Hey, Cara,” Madison said.

_“By the gods!”_ Mothra gasped. _“How long has it been since she has slept?”_

Cara was taken aback. “Madison...you look-”

“Like an absolute trainwreck?” Madison shrugged. “I know. I haven’t been sleeping much. Way too busy with work.”

“Work?” Cara echoed. “What _kind_ of work?”

Madison hesitated, then gestured her forward. “Come see.”

Her room was a war zone. Clothes were all over the floor, her bed was unmade, and the window looking out into the open sea was covered with a towel. On her desk, papers were strewn around her laptop. The screen showed a news article theorizing Dr. Emma Russell’s whereabouts.

Cara sighed wearily. “Oh, Maddie.”

“What?” Madison said. “I’m doing authentic research here. I have the best shot of finding her.”

“Where’s Godzilla?” Cara asked. She began picking up the clothes, folding them neatly and putting them on her bed. “Does he know your doing this?”

“He’s with me,” Madison answered. She was looking at her laptop, and through her white tanktop, her Bonded tattoo was flashing brightly. “He says I need to get some fresh air.” A pause, then an annoyed groan. “I’m fine, Goji! Seriously, I’m not gonna go _insane_ from spending a day indoors!”

“He’s right, though,” Cara said. “It’s not good for you to be cooped up in here all day. Come on, let’s go outside. It’s really nice out.”

“Maybe later. I’m trying to track down my mom.”

“Madison.” Cara took on a firm tone. “Do you know you were called in today for a mission?”

Madison looked back at her. “Uh...No?”

“Kage and Methuselah were arguing again. You were the Bonded who was supposed to go calm them down.” Cara motioned to the desk. “You have to let this go, Maddie. At least for just a day. It’s taking a toll on you, both physically and mentally. Your not going to find her by staring at a screen.”

Madison was silent. She ran a hand through her messy hair. “Your right,” she murmured. “As usual.” She stood up straight and gave her a grin. “Alright. I’ll stop. Just for a little while, though. Let me fix myself up, and I’ll meet you in a minute.”

Cara was relieved. She nodded and headed back to the door.

When she opened it, two people came spilling into the room.

“Ach!” Cara slammed to the floor, immediately shoving the writhing body of one of the people off of her. “Noah! What the fuck!” 

The blonde-haired teenager stared at her with a wild grin on his face. His glasses hung crookedly from his nose. “Hey, Commander Walker! Noah Trent, reporting for duty!”

“Just so you know, I did _not_ make him do this!” Eddie cried. He stood up, glaring accusingly down at his friend. “He was eavesdropping! I was just trying to stop him!”

“Noah, first, _never_ call me ‘Commander Walker’ ever again.” Cara got to her feet, brushing the wrinkles out of her shirt. “Second, eavesdropping? Seriously? Aren’t we a little old for that?”

“Oh Cara, your never too old to be a clown.” Noah got to his feet and looked over at Madison. He jumped back. “Holy _shit_ , what happened to you?”

Madison gave him a dry look. “I haven’t slept in two days.”

“You seriously need to get out of here for a little while,” Eddie said.

“Tell me about it.” Madison shooed at them. “Now get out, I’m gonna get changed. No, Goji, you can’t leave the room, you’ll destroy the entire base. Just close your eyes.”

Cara followed Eddie and Noah out. They stood awkwardly in the hallway, Madison slamming the door on them.

“Welp, she has issues,” Noah commented.

“Is she still trying to track down Dr. Russell?” Eddie asked. “Does she really think she can find her all by herself?”

“I guess.” Cara shook her head, eyes never leaving Madison’s door. “I’m worried about her. Godzilla and I have been trying to get her mind off of her mom, but nothing is working. She really needs a break.”

“Maybe we should feed her laptop to Mothra,” Noah suggested.

_“That is a terrible idea,”_ Mothra disagreed.

“Mothra says that she thinks that idea is horrible,” Cara translated.

“Well, if good ol’ Mothie has any better ideas, I’d like to hear them,” Noah said with a smirk.

_“There is nothing I resent more in the world than that absurd nickname,”_ Mothra complained.

“Ms. Walker?” A Monarch agent walked up to them, hands folded behind his back. “Sorry to interrupt, but your needed in the command room.”

_“Is this due to the mission we were notified about?”_ Mothra said.

“I guess so,” Cara answered. She regarded the agent. 

“I’ll be right up. Noah, Eddie, can you tell Madison I had to go?”

“It’s not just you they want to see,” the agent interjected. “They want all four of you. Or, uh, six, counting Titanus Mosura and Titanus Gojira.”

“Oh. Oh, _wow_.” Noah’s eyes lit up. “They want me and Eddie there, too? Holy shit! This must be a really serious mission!”

“And _how_ is that good, exactly?” Eddie asked him pointedly.

“Where are they sending us?” Cara asked.

“Not sure,” the agent replied. “Something about Fiji.”

_Uh oh._ Only one Titan lived in Fiji. In her mind, she sensed Mothra recognized the location as well. Cara drew in a breath. “We’ll be up there in five minutes.”

The agent nodded and left them. Cara sighed. “Well. Looks like we’re going to Fiji.”

“Vacation!” Noah sang, pumping the air with his fists. He gave a light punch to Eddie, who proceeded to yell at him for being a reckless loudmouth, all while Noah continued to laugh. Madison’s door opened, and the other girl poked her head out, a hair brush stuck to her head in a tangle of knots. “Will you assholes keep it _down_? God, I swear, I’m going to let Godzilla _eat_ you!”

_“This is going to be a long trip,”_ Mothra groaned.

Cara shook her head and smiled, watching her friends. “Tell me about it.”


	3. Rodan's Request

_He was in total darkness, freefalling through empty space. He could feel no solid matter, nothing but cold, frigid air. His wings tried to catch a current beneath him, but to no avail; he couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, could do nothing but helplessly allow himself to freefall downward, with no way to stop._

_A flash of yellow to his right. He turned toward it, hope rising in his chest. A way out? He attempted to angle himself toward where it had appeared, failing miserably. He couldn’t manage to use these winds to his favor. Where was he? What was he doing here?_

_The yellow light grew bigger. The shape of another Titan suddenly revealed itself to him. His heart stopped when he saw who it was._

_Teeth snapping into his neck. Burning pain in his chest and throat. He screamed, writhing to throw his attacker off. Gravity beams seared through his skin, great claws ripped at his wings, three sets of red eyes leered down at him madly, filled with bloodlust and an insane drive to kill._

**_“You can’t escape us,”_ ** _he said._ **_“Your ours. You will never be free from our wrath.”_ **

****

_“No!” he yelled. “I’m not yours! Get away from me! Get away!”_

_The monster laughed, continuing to burn him alive. There was no escape-he was doomed to be haunted by him forever._

_“AAAAAAAAAGH!”_ Rodan surged out of the magma, the hot substance flying everywhere as he frantically scrambled up the side of his volcano and pulled himself onto the top. He panted, heart hammering against his ribcage violently as he closed his eyes and gripped onto the lip of his home with shaking claws.

_A dream. A dream. It had just been a dream._

It hadn’t felt like a dream. It had felt so _real_. He could still feel the pain of Ghidorah’s gravity beams on his scales. The eldritch glow of his eyes-gods, it had been horrible. Was he to suffer through these nightmares forever? Would he always be burdened by his regret? He hadn’t _wanted_ to side with the false king; he had been forced to. It wasn’t his fault that so much destruction had been heaped across the world! Right?

A tiny voice in the back of his head kept on rebuking him, telling him that it most definitely _was_ his fault. That he had been a coward for allowing himself to be used by Ghidorah. That millions of human lives were wiped out because of him.

Normally, he didn’t have a care in the world for humans. But in the span of these two years, he had grown a fondness for the strange little creatures. Especially the Bonded of the queen.

He sighed, and allowed himself to drop back into the pool of magma, closing his eyes as the warmth spread over his scales. Maybe he’d just sleep for a short decade or two. That would certainly do him some good. Until another horrible nightmare woke him back up.

Rodan inhaled some magma, allowing it to swish around inside his beak. He spit it out and pushed himself to the surface, once again climbing up to the top of his volcano. The morning sun stabbed angrily at his eyeballs, making him wince. 

It was just another normal day in Fiji. Or so it looked. At first Rodan didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, until his gaze landed on a company of humans crowded together at the base of his volcano. There were some helicopters as well, and he immediately spotted the symbol painted on the side of each one. Internally, he groaned.

Monarch typically checked up on him to make sure he wasn’t causing trouble. It annoyed him. He wasn’t a chick, and he didn’t need a babysitting service. But he knew he deserved it, even if he didn’t want it. Monarch was an institution that guarded humanity from threats, and after his awakening two years ago, Rodan most definitely knew that he was branded as one in the eyes of man.

His sharp eyesight landed on a face he recognized. The tension slightly eased out of him; Mothra’s Bonded was here. Cara Walker was a kind, trustworthy soul, and Rodan knew that as long as she was here, Monarch wouldn’t try anything funny on him, like snag a tracker on his wing or take a sample of his blood. They treated him like an animal. Cara treated him like a person.

He also noticed a taller girl standing rather closely next to her, glaring around with an aura of fierce protectiveness, and his heart sank. What was _Godzilla’s_ Bonded doing here? If she was present, then he couldn’t be far. Was Rodan going to be punished? But he hadn’t done anything!

Perhaps the king had decided to revoke Rodan’s pardon. Maybe he had reflected on the events of Ghidorah’s short-lived reign, and _did_ think he was a traitor to Earth. A sick feeling bubbled up in his stomach, and he had to turn away. He would be exiled, chased away from civilization...or worse, killed.

Movement brought his attention back onto the humans. Cara was making her way up the volcano, taking a steep, winding path that had been there previous to him moving in. No one else was following her, though Godzilla’s Bonded seemed like she wanted to. Rodan settled back, trying to keep a calm expression in place, despite his current terror.

When she was close enough, he dipped his head to her, smiling. _“Cara,”_ he said. _“It’s been a while.”_

“Hi Rodan.” Cara smiled back. “How have you been?”

_“Alright.”_ Rodan shrugged. _“I cannot complain. This volcano is perfect for me. Many humans come to visit.”_

“They haven’t been bothering you, have they?” Cara asked.

_“No. They just stand there and take photos. Trucks of them. I believe they come from the cruise ships at the port.”_

Cara frowned. “Of course. Leave it to people to use your nest as a cruise ship excursion. Any way to make money.”

_“I do not mind,”_ he said. _“They haven’t done anything to provoke me. I actually rather like it. Being a celebrity had its benefits.”_

She laughed. “Yes, yes it does.” Her gaze trailed over him, examining his condition. “How’s your wing?”

Rodan flexed his left elbow, raising it for her to see. _“It’s healed. It took a very long time. I can fly without any pain now.”_

“Good. I’m glad to hear that,” Cara said blandly. She glanced over her shoulder at the humans below. She seemed distracted, her thoughts elsewhere.

_“You aren’t here just to check on my wing, are you?”_ Rodan said.

Cara looked back at him. “Is it that obvious?”

_“You aren’t focused. And_ she _only puffs up like that when she thinks you are in danger.”_ He pointed to Godzilla’s Bonded. The girl’s eyes hadn’t strayed from them since the moment Cara had made it to the top of the volcano. _“Her Alpha side is showing. Godzilla is the same way with Mothra.”_

“Wait-Alpha?” Cara said. “What do you mean, Alpha?”

_“There is always an Alpha in a relationship,”_ Rodan explained. _“She’s chosen to protect_ _you. That makes her the Alpha. Do humans not work by these titles? How do you decide who’s the stronger mate?”_

“That’s not-we aren’t-she’s not my Alpha!” Cara sputtered. Her face had gotten as red as Rodan’s scales. “There’s no relationship between us or anything! We’re just friends!”

_“Does she know that?”_ Rodan said with a smirk.

“Can we stop talking about this?” Cara shook her head. “This isn’t why I came here. Rodan, there have been attacks on human settlements all over the southern world. _Titan_ attacks. They started in South America, and have worked their way to the Caribbean.”

Rodan’s heart clenched. All friendly teasing was forgotten. _“Who is causing it?”_ he asked. _“Who would dare after the events of Ghidorah? Do they not fear our king?”_

“That’s the problem,” Cara said. “We don’t know who it is. The way these attacks are being done...it comes from the air. Entire towns are being set on fire. Barely anyone survives.”

He nodded in understanding, waiting for her to continue, until he noticed how intensely she was staring at him. _“Wait...do you think this rogue Titan is_ me _?”_

“ _I_ don’t,” she said. “ _They_ do. Since your the only Titan that can start fires and fly, the immediate culprit is you.”

_“That is-how dare they-this is utterly preposterous!”_ Rodan’s voice rose with disbelief. The humans on the ground began buzzing uneasily at his loud protests, but he didn’t care. _“I haven’t left Fiji in two years! I’ve hardly even flown! How could it be me?_

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Cara said. “But they haven’t believed me. But they’ll know it wasn’t you, now that I’ve talked to you about it.”

_“I’m extremely offended by this.”_ Rodan shook his head with a disgruntled huff. _“Tell Monarch that I would rather tear my own wings off than disobey Godzilla. It would be a death wish.”_

“I’m sorry about this, Rodan,” Cara said. “I wish people weren’t so on edge. But after Ghidorah…” She shuddered. “Monarch just doesn’t want a repeat of such a disaster.”

Rodan couldn’t help but feel a sense of sympathy for the organization. _“Yes,”_ he quietly murmured. _“Yes, I know how they feel.”_

The two of them were silent for a moment, before Cara spoke back up. “Right. Well, I’ll go tell them that you can be taken off of the suspect list. It was good to see you, Rodan.”

_“It was good to see you, too,”_ he said. _“Tell Godzilla and Mothra I said hello.”_

She went to leave, and he hesitated. A question was brewing in the back of his mind, and he couldn’t stop himself from asking it. _“Cara. How...How many Bondeds have been recovered?”_

“What do you mean?” she asked.

_“I mean...that’s your job for Monarch, right? To help find other Bondeds and reunite them with their Titans? How many have you found?”_

“Well, only one so far. We found Scylla’s Bonded last May, in Greece. They’re back together now, living in Athens. And we’re pretty sure we’ve found Kage’s Bonded, but we can’t quite confirm it, yet. He’s this kid from San Francisco-”

_“Yes, yes, that’s all very nice to hear,”_ Rodan said. _“But...have you found any traces of-of mine?”_

Cara blinked at him. “ _Your_ Bonded?”

_“Yes. I have been wanting to tell you about this for ages...recently, I’ve been having some strange dreams, dreams about my Bonded. He’s partially covered in shadow, but I can see his eyes, and hear the thrumming of his soul...he’s calling out to me. I am convinced that he has undergone rebirth and is now somewhere in the world.”_

“Are you sure?” Cara asked. She was suddenly excited, her eyes kindled with an energetic light. “Do you think you can track him down? If you come with Monarch, could you lead us to him?”

Rodan instantly regretted his decision to tell Cara about his visions. _“Must Monarch be involved with this, as well?”_

“They won’t interfere,” Cara said. “If you come with us, it’ll just be me, Mothra, Godzilla, and the rest of the team. No one is going to try and hurt you.”

Rodan hesitated. He wanted to say yes. His Bonded was out there, he was sure of it-but he didn’t want Monarch breathing down his neck. But Cara would be there, as would Mothra and Godzilla...perhaps things wouldn’t be so bad?

_“I-I suppose I could stick around for a little while…”_

“Yes!” Cara clapped her hands together. “Perfect! This’ll be great! We find your Bonded, and you don’t have to be alone anymore! You could even join the team!”

Rodan wasn’t so sure about that. He didn’t comment, though. _“But what about the rogue Titan attacks? Shouldn’t you be focused on them?”_

“Of course. We can do both. Stop the Titan attacks, and find your Bonded. Two missions in one!”

_“Are you sure_ they _will be comfortable with my companionship?”_ Rodan asked, nodding to the humans.

“They’ll love you, Rodan. I promise. No one is holding anything against you.” She started down the path, a skip in her step. “Come on!”

Rodan slowly followed, edging his way down the volcano’s side. He briefly contemplated what he was doing; that he was leaving the safety of his home, and flying straight into another possible disaster. But who ever was happy living comfortably? Rodan loved the taste of danger, craved that exhilaration that came with living on the edge.

He couldn’t let his past actions hold him back. Ghidorah might continue to haunt his dreams, but he couldn’t control his life. Rodan had to start fresh. And that was possible only if he found his Bonded.

He decided not to tell Cara about his nightmares of Ghidorah. Those were things that should be kept to himself. Maybe he’d tell Godzilla or Mothra about it. But not for a long time.

As he hopped onto the ground and stood awkwardly smiling at the Monarch congregation, while Cara explained why he was there. Rodan felt a light weight lift off of his heart.

Yes. He had a feeling everything was about to change.

****


	4. New Threats Arising

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! Sorry I’ve been gone for so long, life’s been difficult these past few weeks, but I will be back to posting chapters on a more regular schedule now! Please enjoy this new chapter, and thank you for sticking with the story!

The beaches of Fiji were always flocked with people. Today, however, it seemed the amount of beach goers had doubled in size, forming large crowds that buzzed with astounded excitement. The flashes of cameras and phones continuously went off as the people marveled at the huge monster relaxing within the surf of the ocean.

Godzilla kept his eyes closed, though he was completely aware of all the attention focused on him. He didn’t mind the tourists; if anything, this was a perfect way to show the humans that he meant no harm to them. Being a docile creature had its advantages at times. 

He felt a tiny tap on his snout, followed by a terrified scream from the crowd of humans. Godzilla opened his eyes and peered down his nose at the little girl standing in front of him.

Her eyes were wide with wonder as she patted his nose. From the corner of his eye, he could see a female adult-the mother of the child, presumably-standing apart from the crowd, screaming her daughter’s name. The little girl was completely oblivious to the potential danger that loomed before her.

He smiled softly to the child and closed his eyes again. _“Madison,”_ he called. _“Could you tell the agitated mother over there that her child is in no danger? The children are more than welcome to play around me, if they want.”_

Madison looked up at her Titan from where she was sitting. “Sure thing, Goji.” Putting down her sketchbook, she got up and headed over to the crowd.

“It’s alright, everyone,” she told them. “Godzilla says he won’t hurt anyone here. If you want, you can go over and pet him. He doesn’t mind.”

The mother of the little girl looked at her, noticed the Monarch symbol on her t-shirt, and visibly relaxed. “Are you sure?” she asked. “How do you know? Can you understand him?”

“I’m his Bonded, miss. I understand every word he says. Godzilla’s a family guy, he adores children. They can play around him, if they want.”

The crowd murmured, and the tension seemed to ease; the world had been given awareness of Bondeds by Monarch right after Ghidorah’s death, in the hopes that fear of the Titans would wane with the knowledge that there were humans that could speak to them and negotiate with them. And it seemed to work- eventually, some people began walking over to Godzilla, and it wasn’t long before a group of kids were joining the little girl to pet him. Madison smiled at the sight. This was what she wanted to see. Humans and Titans living alongside each other with a comfortable security. Her mother had been so wrong with her theory that humanity was an infection that Titans were meant to eradicate. The thought of Dr. Russell made her frown, but she quickly pushed it out of her mind. Soon enough, she’d find her mother and bring her to justice.

She turned and saw Rodan closely examining her sketchbook, and cried out. “Hey! Don’t touch that!”

Rodan jerked back in surprise when she grabbed the sketchbook and slammed it closed. He had a smirk on his face.

_“Your_ drawing _her as well?”_ he said. _“My my, you are absolutely_ smitten _by her, aren’t you? Funny little Bonded, you are going to have to be much more assertive with your actions if you want to claim her as your own.”_

Madison’s cheeks burned. She snarled at him and clutched the sketchbook close to her chest. “Stay out of my things!” she yelled. “They’re none of your business! And I don’t need you lecturing me!”

Rodan shrugged. _“You will come to me for aid eventually. Back when there were other Firebirds, I was known by many as what you humans would call a ‘heartthrob.’ A very appropriate title, if I do say so myself.”_

“Are you talking to me just because you want to brag about how much of a player you are? Or do you have something more important to discuss?”

_“Actually, yes, I do,”_ Rodan answered. _“Cara speaks highly of your drawing skills, and I wanted to see if you would be able to draw my Bonded for me.”_

“You want me to _draw_ him?” she said, at the same time thinking, _She thinks my drawing is good?_ Her heart once again began to beat fast at the mention of the compliment, but she hid her emotions.

Rodan nodded. _“I thought that if we have a visual to go by, it would be easier to track him down.”_

“That’s...a really good idea, actually.” Madison sat down in the sand and opened her sketchbook to a clean page. “Good thinking, Rodan.”

Rodan’s chest puffed out with pride. _“My ideas usually are the best.”_

_“Like when you thought it would be fun to prank Gabara and nearly got your head taken off for it?”_ Godzilla called to him.

_“That was_ one _time!”_ Rodan squawked indignantly. _“And if you recall,_ you _went along with it, as well!”_

_“Yes, but I didn’t get caught,”_ Godzilla said, smiling.

_“You were grounded by your father for a_ week _!”_ Rodan cried. _“What prince throws bananas at an elder?”_

“Okay, okay, enough!” Madison snapped her fingers at Rodan. “Let’s get this over with! Rodan, we’ll start with the body.”

Rodan settled down next to her, and the two of them got to work. Godzilla closed his eyes again and went silent.

—————

It was ten minutes later when Mothra descended out of the sky and landed on the beach. Cara slid off her back and headed over to Madison and Rodan. Mothra chirped softly as she and Godzilla touched foreheads, and the queen settled down next to her mate, happily watching the children play.

“Hi guys,” Cara said. She looked over Madison’s shoulder at her sketchbook. “What’re you drawing?”

“Rodan’s Bonded,” Madison said. Her brow was furrowed in concentration. On the page was a sketch of a tall, thin boy with curly black hair and brown skin. His eyes were a bright amber-orange. “We thought it would be easier to locate him if I drew him.”

“Wow.” Cara was impressed. “This is really good.” She looked up at Rodan. “You sure this is him?”

Rodan nodded. _“It is exactly as I remember him,”_ he said. _“And Bondeds rarely change appearance after rebirth. He should look just like this when we find him.”_

“ _If_ we find him,” Madison muttered.

_“You have doubts?”_ Rodan asked.

“A little,” she answered. “We have no idea where he is right now. It could take months.”

_“Never mind all that.”_ Rodan waved the comment away with a dismissive flick of his wing. _“We’ll find him. I am sure of it.”_

“Rodan, I have something for you.” Cara took off her backpack and rummaged through it. She pulled out a large metal disk that resembled a frisbee. “Monarch made this for you. It’s an earpiece that’ll connect you to me, Madison, Godzilla, and Mothra. You’ll be able to speak to us even when we’re all apart.”

Rodan bent his head down to her side. Cara placed the earpiece right next to his ear. It clicked onto him with ease, and then blinked blue as it let out a little beep.

_“Are you sure this thing is safe?”_ he asked warily.

Cara nodded. “Mothra and Godzilla have one, too. They aren’t permanent, so it can be taken off whenever you want. You’ll be able to talk to any of us during missions.” 

_“That will definitely be helpful,”_ Rodan agreed. _“Will my Bonded get one after we find him?”_

“It won’t be necessary, but yeah, he can get one, too,” Cara replied. “By the way, do you remember when you last saw your Bonded? Like, where he might be?”

Rodan paused, pondering, before giving a helpless shrug. _“I cannot recall clearly. Everything is hazy and not exactly clear...but I do have a strong urge to travel to Mexico. Specifically near the ocean. I do not know why, but perhaps it is because he is there.”_

“We can check there, first,” Cara said. “Alright, good plan. We can leave now.”

“You might want to rethink that,” a voice said behind her. Cara turned and found herself looking up at Mr. Serizawa. Behind him, far from the crowd of tourists, a small Monarch chopper was waiting, the wind whipping from its blades making her hair wave slightly.

“Mr. Serizawa, I thought you went back to Castle Bravo,” Cara said. After she had explained that Rodan would be joining their team, the adults had left them to their own thoughts on Cara’s request, for Rodan’s sake-the Firebird still wasn't comfortable around Monarch agents, and Cara hoped that some relaxing beach time would put him more at ease as they discussed his Bonded.

The man nodded. “I did. But when I got this notification, I turned back.” He handed her a tablet. “It is something you will want to see.”

The tablet was a radar, showing the large expanse of a city. There were warning signals going off, showing that there was an increase of temperature coming from above the buildings, in the sky-and it had an image of a red mass to go with it, something with wings that was using the high altitude for cover, a shape that was eerily familiar to Cara, yet she couldn’t pinpoint why.

“A Titan?” she asked.

“ _The_ Titan,” Mr. Serizawa answered. “The rogue Titan that has been starting fires and destroying towns. We picked it up ten minutes ago.”

“What city is this?” Cara said.

“Orlando, Florida.”

“Oh, shit.” Cara’s heart sank at the name. Orlando was one of the most populated cities in America-if this rogue Titan was planning on attacking, hundreds of people would perish. They had to get there before it was too late.

“Notify the Orlando police,” she said. “Evacuate the city. Get everyone out of there as fast as possible.”

“That is going to be impossible,” Mr. Serizawa said. “It will take hours to completely clear out the citizens and bring them to safety. And then there are the private companies who run theme parks-they might not listen.”

“You have to try, anyway,” Cara said. “This Titan is dangerous. We can’t let people die.”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Madison yelled.

“We’re going to have to put our Bonded hunt on hold,” Cara said. “There’s a rogue Titan flying above Orlando. If we don’t get there, it’ll attack.”

_“Attack?”_ Godzilla’s head shot up. _“What attack? Who is attacking?”_

_“A rogue Titan, my king,”_ Rodan informed.

_“A rogue Titan?”_ Godzilla echoed.

_“That is what I said,”_ Rodan answered.

_“Oh, that cannot be,”_ Mothra joined in. _“All of the currently awakened Titans are on good terms with humanity. There is no reason they should turn on us.”_

“This isn’t one of them, Mothra,” Cara said. “This Titan is new. And it’s going to destroy Orlando if we don’t stop it.”

“Who’s destroying Orlando?” Noah asked, walking over to them with Eddie by his side. The two of them were decorated in obvious tourist trap merchandise. Noah was even slurping a smoothie. Eddie had on sunglasses that were way too big for his face, and they hung crookedly from his nose.

“Where the hell have you two been?” Madison asked.

“Exploring,” Eddie answered.

“Buying an unhealthy amount of cheap merchandise that we’ll probably never wear again after today,” Noah added.

“You two are unbelievable.” Cara had to stop herself from laughing; now was no time for comedy. “But our little vacation is over. We have to head to Florida to stop a rogue Titan from setting Orlando on fire.”

“Oh yeah, mission time!” Noah yelled. “Let’s go kick some evil Titan ass!”

“We will follow you to Florida,” Mr. Serizawa said. “Noah, Eddie, do you want to come on the chopper, or would you rather fly with Cara and Mothra?”

“Oh, Mothra for sure!” Noah bounded happily over to the divine moth, practically throwing himself into her fur. “Come on, Mothie! It’s show time!”

_“Must they fly with us?”_ Mothra groaned, though Cara saw a twinkle of humor in her eyes. _“Noah is so_ loud _. Let them swim with Godzilla and Madison, instead.”_

“Nope, too late.” Madison was already climbing up on Godzilla’s back, resting between the smaller dorsal plates near his neck. “Godzilla and I ride solo. Let’s go, Goji!”

_“Yes, ma’m!”_ Godzilla chuckled. He rose to his feet, careful to watch out for any beach goers as he waded deeper into the ocean. _“King of the monsters, coming through! Make way, make way!”_

Cara climbed into Mothra’s back, buckling herself into her saddle, then helped Noah and Eddie on. She waved to Mr. Serizawa, then turned her attention to Rodan. “Let’s go, Rodan!”

Rodan blinked. _“You-You want me to help?”_

“Of course! Your part of the team now, you can’t just stay behind!”

_“Come along, Rodan!”_ Mothra trilled. _“You shall be our ‘eye in the sky’ as humans say! Let us take to the air!”_

She crouched and spread her brilliant wings. Cara heard multiple gasps of awe from the crowd below as they stepped back to witness the great creatures depart.

“Alright, let’s flyAHHHHHHHHH!” Noah’s scream carried across the air as Mothra shot upward into the clouds, Eddie’s own screams joining in as Cara laughed and Mothra keened, Rodan letting out a joyful screech as he followed close behind.

\--------------

A woman was watching the great red cloud circle above Orlando.

A pit had formed in her stomach as she observed the live feed on her laptop. Her hands were up in a praying position, as if she were silently willing whatever monster was producing the phenomenon to take its leave and go elsewhere. However, she was doing anything but. This was just another Titan who was recognizing the parasitic relationship humanity had with the earth. So far, it hadn’t destroyed anything natural; the creature was solely targeting human towns and cities, and keeping its destruction contained. This wasn’t like before. This was what Ghidorah had been expected to do.

“Dr. Russell,” a familiar voice said. She felt a presence behind her and quickly swiveled around in her chair to look at her sudden companion in company. Alan Jonah did not appear too pleased with what she was doing.

“I thought you were in the laboratory,” he said. “My scientists were expecting you for the greenlight to continue the operation.”

“Sorry.” Emma rubbed her eyes. “I’ve been busy. This Titan that’s been destroying towns and cities has finally found its way to America, and-”

“I don’t care about _that_ Titan,” Jonah interrupted. He reached out and forcefully closed the laptop screen. “Your focus should be on _our_ Titan. The one that is currently sitting in the lab waiting for further work.”

“I already told you, Alan,” Emma said. “We can’t finish until we have an effective way of communicating and controlling it. If we just start it up now, then it could go crazy and completely decimate the building.”

“You have your ORCA-” Jonah started.

“The ORCA is useless,” Emma cut in. “It’s limited and faulty, it’s too much of a risk. We can’t rely on the ORCA anymore. We need a Bonded for successful communication.”

“Well, we have two Bondeds at the ready for capture,” Jonah said. “We could easily take them. I don’t understand why you continue to put this off.”

“If we separate Cara or Madison from their Titans, it could be a disaster,” Emma said. “Godzilla and Mothra will go on a rampage if we take their humans from them. And besides-” Her voice broke. “-Madison is safer without me.”

Jonah didn’t look the least bit sympathetic. “Now is not the time to be groveling in your own self-pity,” he growled. “Cara and Madison are the only Bondeds we know of. Who else is there to choose? What about that boy, the brother. He is a Bonded, we could-”

“No!” Emma yelled, nearly jumping out of her seat. “Not him! We _can’t_ take him! He’s too dangerous!”

Jonah glared at her, chewing the inside of his cheek. “It has been two years, Emma,” he said. “You have to get over whatever fears are consuming you. You are holding us back. If you will not help me, than I have no need for you.”

Emma swallowed hard. She regained control of her emotions and took a deep breath. “Just-Just give me a few more days,” she said. “I can find a Bonded for us to use. Bondeds, they’re unique-they’re hybrids, and they exhibit many Titan-like qualities. All Titans, no matter if they feed off of nuclear energy or not, give off a small amount of radiation, not enough to be lethal, but enough to be picked up on by computers. Bondeds are the same. I can use some tools to track radiation signatures around cities and towns. No ordinary human should give off a single ounce of it, so it’ll be an easy job.”

Jonah pondered her idea for a moment, than gave a nod. “Time is ticking, Dr. Russell,” he said as he turned to leave. “I will give you until Saturday. Our project must be up and running by next week.”

And then he was gone. Emma was left alone with her thoughts.

She sighed and stood up, no longer in the mood to observe the Titan in Florida. She left her room and walked briskly down the dark hallways of the bunker the eco-terrorists used for their home base. Once in a while she would pass others; they barely paid her any mind, only glancing at her quickly before looking away and resuming whatever they were occupied with.

She felt isolated here. Out of place. These people were so different than the friendly, warm atmosphere she had experienced during her time with Monarch. There, she had friends. Here, she had no one.

Madison once again crossed her mind, and her heart sank miserably. Her daughter would probably be happy with never seeing her again. After all Emma had put her through, she was even afraid of how Madison would react if they ever encountered each other again: Maddie didn’t have the best control over her temper. Would she attack Emma, and use her Bonded powers to hurt and even kill her? She really hoped not. It was for the better they were separated, at least for now. Once her plan was complete, she’d be able to bring Madison back, powerless and ordinary. Only then would Emma be able to get through to her daughter and make her understand the reasons behind her actions.

She finally arrived at her destination, a heavy steel door with the word LAB printed on its center. Emma held her ID card up to the scanner attached to the door, and with a _beep_ , it unlocked.

She headed inside, walking past the other scientists who were busy at work. One of them called her name and hurried over to her, a thin man with large glasses that didn’t look like he should be working for one of the most dangerous eco-terrorists in the world.

“How is it?” Emma asked him.

“It’s going steady,” he answered. “But it’s vitals are constantly shifting. Sometimes it’s pulse spikes, and it gives off signs of waking up. We’ve had to drug it five times, now. It gets more active every day.”

“Don’t worry,” Emma said. “I have a plan. Just keep it under anesthetics until I give the word.”

The head scientist nodded. He looked nervous. “Are you sure this will work?”

Emma turned. In front of them was a huge window overlooking a massive room. Inside, scientists were hard at work, wearing stark white quarantine suits to protect them from the various anesthetics that were pumped into the contained air. They were building, adding metallic parts to an organic creature, creating something that would aid Emma in her mission to restore the earth to Titan rule.

“Don’t worry,” she repeated, glancing at a monitor. On it, the name of their creation stood out in bold black: PROJECT GODKILLER. “Everything will work itself out.”


	5. Nightmare over the Happiest Place on Earth

When they neared their destination, Cara immediately spotted the pulsing red cloud that was overtaking the sky above them. Mothra flew low, keeping her wings at a dim shine. Through their connection, Cara saw her Titan’s gaze glued to the airborne spectacle. There was a taste of foreboding and resentment with the image.

“Woah,” Noah breathed. “Is that the Titan we’re looking for?”

“Looks like it,” Cara answered. “Mothra? Do you know who this Titan is?”

The only answer she got was a low growl. Cara wasn’t surprised at the hostile reaction, knowing it wasn’t for her, and didn’t question the rogue Titan’s identity any further. Mothra angered easily when in the presence of an enemy, giving Cara the information she needed; this creature was not their friend.

Her earpiece crackled, and Rodan’s voice filled her ear. _“I am flying above you, as to not disturb any buildings. I will not be far.”_ The Firebird soared over their heads, spreading his wings to their full extent as to soar. _“Notify me if we are attacking. I will be ready to defend you.”_

“Thanks, Rodan,” Cara said. “Be on guard. We don’t know if this Titan will attack.”

They flew over swampland and towns, until they arrived directly underneath the cloud. Where it was situated made Cara’s blood run cold with terror.

The cloud’s ruby light cast itself down upon Disney Springs, a marketplace that was part of the most visited vacation spot in the world, Walt Disney World. She could see people staring up at both Mothra and the cloud, some with fear in their eyes, others, mostly the younger children that were about, with wonder.

“Oh, _shit_ ,” Eddie said. “Cara...if this Titan attacks…”

“I know. It won't be pretty.” Cara pressed her earpiece. “Madison? Where are you? Are you on the ground?”

“Yes,” Madison replied. “I’m with the G-Team. We all see the clouds...Cara, please be careful.”

“Hang tight. We’re coming down to drop off Eddie and Noah.” Cara released her earpiece and patted Mothra’s side. “Let's head down for a moment.”

Mothra slowly descended, keeping her wings lifted high as to not create turbulent wing storms that could potentially damage the buildings of Disney Springs. On the ground, Monarch and Disney security were ushering people back, making a clear space where Mothra could safely allow Eddie and Noah to slide off of her back.

_¨Cara, I think you should go with Eddie and Noah,¨_ Mothra said. 

“What? Why?”

_¨Because the fight I am about to partake will be a vicious one. Listen to my instructions. The Titan in that cloud loathes humanity. He will take every opportunity he has to inflict any amount of devastation upon the people in this area. You must create a shield to deflect his attacks.¨_

“A shield?” Cara exclaimed. “But I can’t create a shield over this place. I’ve never made one that was this big!”

_¨You can, and you must. The fate of the humans here depends on it.¨_ Mothra lowered her wing. _¨Now go. Stay strong, and do not lose faith in your power.¨_

Cara waited for Eddie and Noah to slide off, and hesitated. “Mothra-”

_¨Go!”_ Mothra cried. _¨This is not up for discussion! You_ must _make that shield!¨_

Cara slid off, her feet landing squarely on the pavement. There was a whoosh of air as Mothra flew back up into the sky toward the cloud.

“What happened?” Noah asked. “Why’d you leave her?”

“S-She said that I have to create a shield to cover the entirety of Disney Springs,” Cara answered. “What is she thinking? I’ve never made a shield this big before! I-I don't even know if I can!”

“Cara.” A man in a uniform came over to them. Jackson Barnes was the co-captain of the G-Team, an exclusive group of Monarch soldiers who were trained to handle Titan attacks and Monarch outpost containment breaches. Cara and her team regularly worked with them, and she knew all of them well. Barnes was a trusted adult, someone who knew what he was doing.

“What is going on up there?” Barnes pointed up to Mothra. She was rapidly winging her way closer to the cloud. “Does she know she left you down here? And why is that flamin’ turkey circling above us?”

_“Turkey?!?”_ Rodan squawked through Cara’s earpiece, causing her to wince-she hadn’t realized he could hear what was being said through their devices. _“How dare he? I’ll show him a turkey, the little-!”_

“Now’s not the time, Rodan!” Cara switched off her earpiece and focused back on Barnes. “I don’t know why she left me down here. She said I need to create a shield that will cover all of Disney Springs.”

“Shield?” One of the Disney security personnel questioned. Cara hadn’t noticed that they were listening in.

“It’s this thing she does where she uses her powers to make a forcefield,” Barnes said to him. “It’s impenetrable-as long as she keeps it going, nothing can get through it.” He looked back at Cara. “So, you just need to make a shield to keep the Springs safe while Mothra fights whatever-that-is up there? Sounds solid to me. Will she need backup?”

“No, not solid at all!” Cara felt like a broken record. “I’ve never created a shield that can cover what might as well be an entire _town_! I’m not strong enough-!”

She wasn’t able to finish. Because just then, a guttural screech that sounded like a deeper, harsher version of Mothra’s call reverberated across the sky, originating directly from the cloud.

Everyone went silent.

There was no noise except for the calming music that played throughout Disney Springs.

Mothra had stopped and was hovering a good length away from the cloud. Above her, Rodan flapped, watching the source of the roar anxiously.

And then, there was a voice.

An angry, hissing voice that sent shivers down Cara’s spine. It carried across the air, straight down to the people below, and yet she knew no one could understand the words behind the growls except her.

Well, and one other person.

She made eye contact with Madison. Both girls understood what the voice meant.

“Is Godzilla with you?” Cara whispered.

“Yes,” Madison replied.

“Good.” Cara focused her gaze upward. “We’ll need him.”

\--------------

_“Mothraaaaaaaa,”_ the voice hissed, disgust dripping from every syllable. _“How dare you show your disgusting face to me?”_

Mothra kept her temper in check, resisting the urge to spit out an insult of her own; she was better than that. There was no way she would lower herself to this revolting creature’s level. _“As queen of the Titans and one of the Five, I am ordering you to leave this place at once. Return to where you emerged, and stay there until further instruction.”_

The hiss was followed by a laugh. The mocking cackle made Mothra’s antenna quiver in rage. _“You...You are no queen of mine, Lightner...I do not answer to_ you _. Your orders fall upon deaf ears.”_

_“You have been reaping destruction. Leaving a trail of blood in your wake. Do you realize how many humans have died by your fire?”_

_“Fuel for the tank, Lightner...Their fear feeds me. I live for the splendor of seeing their pathetic little bodies fall apart...to see the flesh melt off of their bones...their screams give me life...their screams give me_ purpose _. They are a_ disease _, Mothra. I was trained to be a guardian of the earth...and now I am purging our beautiful planet of these parasites. I swore to my people I would sweep them out of existence for what they have done.”_

_“Times have changed, Battra. The humans are not how they used to be. Godzilla and I have pledged our allegiance to them. They are as natural to the earth as we are.”_

A figure revealed itself from the darkness of the cloud. Battra’s blood-red eyes were trained on Mothra, burning with a hatred that rivaled that of Ghidorah himself. His wings spread behind him, Darkner fire swirling with each flap he took. _“If you believe that...then you are as horrific as they are.”_

_“I will not hesitate to kill you, old friend,”_ Mothra growled.

Battra flexed his longer forelimbs. _“Neither will I.”_

The two divine moths launched themselves at each other, both colliding with a resounding crash.


	6. The Dark vs. The Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Whew, it's been a strange month, hasn't it? I hope everyone's okay amid this coronavirus crisis! I'm stuck in quarantine, and my school has shut down for the rest of the month, so this means I'll be able to update the story more regularly! Stay healthy, stay safe, and enjoy this latest chapter! Sorry for it being so short; I promise chapter's will be getting longer very soon as our second antagonist is formally introduced;)

Cara nearly screamed when Mothra threw herself at the other Titan, terror gripping her heart when the two monsters began to fight. The dark Titan looked to be formidable-it had armor-like plates all over its body, covering its back and abdomen. It’s forelegs were jagged and longer than Mothra’s, appearing to be much sharper than her Titan's own. It had no stinger, but then again, it had no need for one; by the looks of it, it’s size and strength were enough for it to easily overpower an enemy.  


However, these two factors didn’t seem to be working on Mothra. She attacked the other monster with a viciousness that Cara had only seen in her once before, and pretty soon, the dark moth’s blue-black blood was all over her forelegs and fur. She evaded it’s attacks with smooth precision, hitting it repeatedly with direct, intended strikes. Likewise, the other Titan was doing the same. Both seemed to know what they were doing; it was almost as if they had fought each other before.  


People were screaming all around her. Barnes was barking orders to the G-Team, helping Disney Security herd terrified tourists into buildings. Madison had grabbed her arm, spinning her to stare up at the taller girl’s face.  


“Godzilla says he can’t risk manifesting here!” Madison shouted over the cacophony. “There’s no room for him to safely stand without hurting anyone! What do we do?”  


Cara was so caught up in the airborne spectacle of Mothra and the other Titan fighting, she had nearly forgotten that there were lives in danger. She switched on her earpiece. “Rodan! Do you hear me? I need you to attack that enemy Titan, now!”  


_“I can’t!”_ Rodan yelled. He sounded panicked. _“I might hit Mothra! The two of them are moving too fast for me to get an opening!”_  


Cara’s heart was thrumming against her ribcage. She saw that Rodan was right-Mothra and the Titan were stuck together, interlocked in close combat in one moment, swinging around to strike each other the next. Rodan could accidentally harm Mothra in the process of helping her.  


“If we can somehow get the enemy Titan away from Mothra, then Rodan could have an opening to get it away from Disney Springs!” Madison suggested.  


“That could work!” Cara agreed. “Rodan, did you hear that? We have to-!”  


Fiery agony suddenly burned through her. Cara shrieked, collapsing to the ground as pain overcame her. She pressed her hand to her side and felt the sticky warmth of blood soak her shirt.  


“Cara, what happened?” Madison tried to help her up, wrapping her arms around her body. The other Bonded’s warmth somehow chased away the pain, and Cara found herself leaning into her on instinct as more blood welled up from the giant cut that had somehow appeared out of nowhere on the side of her abdomen.  


Cara looked up, and saw Mothra trapped in the dark moth’s clutches, her side bleeding from a wound, a wound that was identical to her own. The other Titan had its foreleg buried into it. It was staring down at Disney Springs. _It was looking right at her!_  


_“So...you brought your Bonded with you, Mothra?”_ The dark moth’s voice dripped with disgust. _“You truly are a cheater, aren’t you? Using this..._ abomination _to aid in my defeat...despicable! It is a good thing I still remember how to inflict pain on both of you through your psychic link.”_  


_“Battra, leave her alone!”_ Mothra panted. She swung her wing around and smacked the Titan over the head. It went wheeling away with a screech. Green blood gushed out of the Titan queen’s side.  


Cara screamed. More blood poured out of her abdomen. Madison made an agitated whining sound, pressing her hands to the wound.   


_“Cara!”_ Mothra cried into her mind. _“Battra-he is coming for you! Create the shield,_ NOW _!”_  


Cara saw the red-black Titan diving, wings tucked to its sides. It’s forelegs extended, glinting ebony.  


Raising her arms, Cara gritted her teeth, squeezed her eyes shut, and powered through the pain from her wound. Two god rays erupted from her glowing hands, blue energy crackling down the length of her arms, branching off into numerous veins. The beams shot upward, joining together at a reasonable height to create a blue forcefield that covered the entire proximity of Disney Springs, leaving the dark moth Titan with no way to get to her or anyone else in the park.  


_“Yes!”_ Mothra keened. _“Yes, do not falter! I know the wound hurts, but you must stay strong!”_  


_“ENOUGH!”_ the dark Titan roared. It lunged for Mothra. _“I WILL NOT HAVE YOU AND YOUR HUMAN PET STOP ME FROM SAVING THE EARTH! NOW LET ME_ KILL YOU _!”_  


Mothra dodged the attack and swooped beneath her enemy. Her wings began to illuminate, and then she released two god rays of her own, aiming them straight for the other moth’s underbelly. The god rays sent it spiraling upward, far away from Disney Springs.  


“Rodan, _NOW_!” Madison screamed into her earpiece.  


The Firebird came diving into sight with a battle cry. He crashed into the enemy Titan and bit into its left wing. The dark moth screeched and slashed at Rodan’s chest, leaving jagged grooves that oozed glowing red blood that resembled lava. Some of it splashed onto the enemy Titan, and seemed to burn its skin. The pained screeches amplified.  


Cara didn’t know how much longer she could keep the shield going. Her wound was burning, and her arms were beginning to ache. Tears of exhaustion were welling up in the corners of her eyes, making the aerial fight blurry.  


“Just a little longer,” Madison urged, as if sensing her agony. “Rodan’s winning. He’s going to kill the other Titan. You can do this. Just a little more.”  


Cara blinked away the tears. Her mind was fuzzy, and Madison’s voice became distant and drawled. She was just able to make out the enemy Titan twisting Rodan’s bad wing behind his back, causing the Firebird to cry out and falter his attack. With a powerful shove, the dark moth streaked out of Rodan’s clutches and disappeared into the clouds, leaving a trail of red flames in its wake.  


She couldn’t take it. It felt like someone was pouring hot water over her side while simultaneously ripping her arms off at a gradual pace. Cara’s knees buckled, and everything went dark.


	7. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Sorry this chapter took so long to get out! I know I said that I would be publishing chapters more often, but right as I was writing this one, a HUGE amount of college stuff came out for me to do, and all my time was used up. It’s really frustrating, but I managed to get this chapter done! Hope your all doing well, and I promise the action will pick up soon! I haven’t forgotten about our good friends Dr. Russell and Alan Jonah...

She slowly came to with the sound of quiet beeping in her ears. Cara groaned, blinking her eyes open as the strong, pungent scent of rubbing alcohol struck her nose. Slowly, painfully, she managed to struggle into a sitting position, rubbing her aching head. 

Ow. Everything hurt. But much less so than before. Cara rubbed her face, moaning as exhaustion clawed at her mind in an attempt to pull her back into the jaws of sleep. She shook it off, looking down at her side to see how bad it was.

She was bandaged up rather thoroughly, and was pleased to see that her wound was no longer bleeding openly. She was sure that her Bonded stamina would have it healed in less than an hour, now that she was in a stable enough condition. She'd be ready to get up in no time.

It took her a moment to realize that she was in the Castle Bravo medical bay, laying down in a hospital bed, wearing one of those flimsy white gowns. She shivered, wondering who had changed her out of her clothes. It was freezing in here, and as she went to rub her arms in a vain attempt to warm herself, she noticed an IV hooked up to her left arm, a red-green liquid traveling down the thin tube into her body.

_Green liquid._ She blinked in surprise, recognizing its color well. This was Mothra’s blood. It couldn’t be anything else. The Titan had given blood for her. Had her wound been that bad that she needed a blood transfusion?

Oh well. That didn’t matter anymore. What _did_ matter was tracking down that rogue Titan and preventing it from attacking any more cities. What had Mothra called it? Battra...she was positive she had heard that name before. But where…?

_Aha!_ She recalled now! When she and Mothra first met two years ago, during her school trip to China! Mothra has mentioned being chased by followers of Battra in one of their previous lives...could the monster that attacked Disney Springs be the same Battra?

The door to her room whooshed open, and a familiar face peeked inside. Relief crashed over Noah’s face when he saw her sitting up.

“Oh, thank _god_!” he whispered. “Eddie, come on! She’s awake!”

The two boys tiptoed in, being as quiet as possible. Cara was puzzled by their behavior, but nonetheless glad to see them.

“Why are you two whispering? What’s going on?” She grunted when they both hugged her, being careful not to disturb the IV tube. “Oof, watch the wound, it still sorta hurts.”

“We’re so glad you're safe,” Eddie said. “When we heard what happened...god, I don’t even want to think about worst-case scenarios.”

“They wouldn’t let us see you,” Noah said, a hint of anger in his tone. “Madison-she was, like, in _full_ mama bear mode. Snarling all over the place, refusing to leave your side. Her fucking eyes were _glowing_.” He shook his head. “Scariest shit I’ve ever seen. It took practically three G-Team soldiers to drag her out of here.”

Cara was startled by the description of Madison’s behavior; sure, the other girl was protective of her, but never had she gone so far as to use her powers to threaten people who came near her. She’d make sure to talk to her later. “Where is she now?”

“Outside, with Godzilla, Rodan, and Mothra. All four of them are beyond worried about you.”

“And so are we,” Eddie added. He looked nervously at her side. “Are you sure this is okay? Mothra gave some of her blood for you. Madison translated for us. Apparently human blood transfusions are lethal to Bondeds. Only Mothra’s blood is good for you.”

“Eddie, don’t worry, I’m fine.” She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “I’m feeling great. I’ll be able to get up and walk around soon.”

“Dr. Graham told us you’d have to be cleared first before they can let you out of here,” Noah said.

“How long _have_ I been in here?” Cara asked.

“About three hours.”

“ _Three hours_?” Cara slumped back, feeling dazed. “Three hours of my life wasted here? When I should be out _there_ stopping that rogue Titan?”

“Technically, your life is being _saved_ , not wasted,” Noah said.

“By the way,” Eddie said. “About that Titan. Do you know who it is? And why does it want to, uh, kill everyone?”

Cara shook her head. “I’ve never seen him before. But I have heard his name. Mothra mentioned him once before. He’s called...Battra.”

“Battra,” Eddie murmured. “Weird. Do you think Mothra knows more about him? Perhaps she could tell us something that will help us defeat him.”

“I’ll ask her now. Hold on.” Cara closed her eyes and concentrated on her link to Mothra. She felt the Titan’s consciousness immediately, a bright blue aura that burned with a deep anxiety. She grasped it, connected her mind to Mothra’s, and called out to her.

_“Cara?”_ Mothra gasped. _“Oh, thank the Creator, you are awake! I was so worried about you! Are you feeling well? How is your wound? Is the blood transfusion working? Oh, Titanfall consume me if it isn’t-”_

_“I’m fine Mothra,”_ Cara spoke-or rather thought-to her. _“I’m feeling much better. There’s no pain at all. I’m okay.”_

Mothra sighed with relief. _“I am so sorry that this has happened to you, my child. I should have remembered that we can share injuries. Battra-that fiend-I always find myself underestimating him.”_

_“By the way, about Battra,”_ Cara said. _“Can you tell me about him? Why does he hate you? Why does he hate_ me _? Is he someone from our past? I remember you talking about him.”_

Hesitation from Mothra. _“Yes, he is someone who has constantly plagued me. You did not know him well, so I would not expect you to remember anything about him. He is a ruthless warrior, my child, and will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.”_

_“Are you afraid of him?”_

Mothra snorted. _“Please. There is only one creature that I truly fear, and he was killed two years ago. Battra is a threat that can easily be handled. But he is a danger to humanity, and must be dealt with as such.”_

_“He kept calling you a...Lightner. What is that?”_

_“That is what my people call themselves. We are the divine moths of light, protectors of the creatures of Earth, by order of the Creator. Battra is a Darkner._ His _people are warriors, the divine moths of darkness that fight for the Earth in a much more brutal way. Their society is militaristic, built upon the death of creatures that they deem as dangers to Earth. Battra is a soldier, and he won’t rest until humanity is wiped from existence.”_

_“Then we better find him and stop him from killing any more people than he already has.”_

_“Agreed. I will tell Madison to notify Dr. Chen that you are in stable condition. I can feel the strength returning to you already.”_

_“Noah and Eddie told me the doctors have to clear me before I can leave the medical ward…”_ Cara said. _“I don’t know if they’ll let me leave.”_

_“Oh, nonsense! You just stay there, my child, and I will take care of the ‘clearing you,’ as you put it. I will be waiting for you up on top.”_

The connection was severed, and Cara was thrust back into the medical ward, Eddie and Noah peering down at her face nervously.

“What happened?” Eddie asked. “Is everything alright?”

“Mothra told me about Battra,” Cara responded. “He’s a species of Titan called a Darkner. They...They see humans as a parasite, and they want to...kill us all.”

“Oh, great,” Noah mumbled. “Another giant monster that wants to kill us. Juuuust what we need.”

“Godzilla can take care of him, right?” Eddie said. “I mean, he’s not Ghidorah. No Titan can be as dangerous as Ghidorah.”

“We’re going to find out,” Cara said. “That’s our job. After I’m out of here, we’ll head out and find Battra, and bring him to justice.”

“You say that like it’ll be easy,” Noah said.

“It _won’t_ be easy,” Cara said. “But we can handle it. Eddie’s right. Nothing is as dangerous as Ghidorah. Battra will be a piece of cake compared to him.”

“Let’s just hope,” Noah said. “that Battra is the only Titan we’ll be dealing with.”

The door suddenly whooshed open once again, and the three of them fell silent. Walking in was Dr. Graham, followed by Dr. Chen, and then Mr. Serizawa, and finally Madison and two other doctors. Madison cried out and launched herself at Cara, the other girl pulling her into her arms and holding her close to her chest.

“Madison, be careful!” Dr. Graham pleaded. “She could still be in pain!”

“I’m-oof-I’m okay, Dr. Graham!” Cara said. She hugged Madison back, closing her eyes and enjoying the feeling of her friend’s arms around her. “Hi, Maddie.”

“I was so worried about you,” Madison murmured. It sounded like she was about to cry. “There was so much blood-Mothra said you’d need a transfusion-god, I thought you might die.”

“It’s gonna take more than a giant cut to kill me,” Cara chuckled.

“Are you feeling alright?” Mr. Serizawa asked.

“Much better than before,” Cara replied. “The blood transfusion helped speed up the healing.”

“Good.” He looked guilty. “Everytime something like this happens, I am reminded that you are just a young girl. If you were to die, it would be on my conscience for allowing it to happen. Perhaps you should stay here, and allow the G-Team to track down...what did Mothra call it? Battra.”

“What? No way!” Cara shook her head. “I’m fine, Mr. Serizawa! I can help stop Battra, no problem! I’m not going to let a little cut stop me from doing my job!”

“But that is _not_ just a little cut,” Dr. Graham said. “The wound cut through tissue and muscle, nearly exposing your ribcage. You needed stitches. If not for Mothra’s blood and your natural ability to heal faster than normal humans...you’d be dead.”

“Cara, just because you are a Bonded doesn’t mean you can throw yourself into these massive battles against opponents that are clearly superior to you,” Dr. Chen said.

“Battra isn’t _superior_ to me!” Cara said. “He’s just smart and violent and nothing compared to what we fought before. If you guys don’t remember, I took on the literal _embodiment_ of the apocalypse. Multiple times! Battra is not as dangerous!”

“Maybe the adults are right, Cara.” Madison had let go of her and stepped back, crossing her arms. “You should get some rest and take the time to properly recover.”

“You cannot handle Battra alone,” Dr. Chen insisted.

“But I’m _not_ alone,” Cara countered. “I have my team- _you_ _guys_. If we all work together, we can stop Battra from hurting more people. We did it before. Why can’t we do it again?”

“Cara has a point,” Eddie helpfully added. “Ghidorah was probably the most dangerous threat we ever faced. Compared to him, Battra is just an oversized moth with a bad attitude. Are we really going to just give up?”

Everyone murmured in agreement. Cara shot Eddie a grateful smile, silently thanking him for having her back.

“Alright,” Mr. Serizawa finally said. “We’ll get you cleared, and then we’ll find Battra. It will be hard, though. He is extremely elusive.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Madison said. Blue light flashed from her Bonded tattoo. “Godzilla has a pretty good idea where he might be. He says that he’ll punish Battra himself. No one defies the king.”

“Oh, shit, now we definitely know it’s going to go down,” Noah said with a grin.

“We’ll get through this, guys,” Cara said. She was relieved to see that her friends hadn’t lost faith in her. She’d recover from this wound, and Battra would be stopped.

How hard could this mission possibly be?


	8. Warrior of Fire

Miguel Delfuego was not someone who picked fights.

When someone would see him, their first remark was on how skinny he was. Miguel was tall for his age, towering over his classmates at just 16-years-old. His arms and legs were long, and he found himself constantly being made fun of for it. No matter where he went, there was always someone to comment on his stature, and that annoyed him.

The other boy punched him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Anthony was his exact opposite: heavyset, muscular, and nasty. He was a bully, using his intimidating appearance and foul mouth to force other kids to do what he told them. It was smart to stay on his good side.

Miguel was _far_ from being on his good side, and was currently suffering the painful consequences that came with calling the school bully fat.

“You think you're so tough, don’t you?” Anthony yelled. “You think you can tell me what to do? You, who can barely do two pushups and spends all his time reading comic books?”

Another punch to the stomach. The boys around them cheered, jumping up and down with their hands raised in the air.

Miguel wheezed, a string of coughs bubbling up from his throat. Anthony leered at him, baring his teeth at him in the form of a smile.

“Look at you. You can barely breathe! You're so pathetic! How can you be so _useless_?” 

Anthony punched him a third time. The cheers from the other boys increased. He could hear some of them yelling at Anthony to already punch him again, to leave him bleeding in the large alleyway they all were currently in.

“I just...wanted you to leave me...alone,” he whispered. “Why can’t...you go bully someone else? Why is it always me?”

“Why is it you? Because your the one who was _stupid_ enough to call me dumb and overweight to my face!” Anthony brought his arm back, his fingers curled into a fist-this time, it wasn’t aimed for his stomach, but for Miguel’s nose. “Say goodnight, loser!”

But Miguel was ready. He had been in enough situations like this before, and he knew how to get out of them. Anthony was holding him by the collar of his shirt, but the clothing was way too big for him-another downside to being so lanky and thin. He brought his hands up, and began to shimmy rapidly, until he managed to throw off his shirt and free himself from the bully’s clutches.

“Hey! You can’t do that!” Anthony threw the shirt to the side and pointed at him. “Get him!”

The gang of boys all began to crowd in on him, hands reaching to grab him and hinder his escape. Miguel got to his feet and ran, bolting out of the alleyway and turning right onto the street.

He could hear the other boys behind them, could imagine what would happen if they caught him. Miguel pushed himself to run faster, using his agility and speed to outpace the others and throw himself into the nearest hiding place: a small souvenir shop that had so many aisles of merchandise, he could barely see the door where he had run in.

The boys all stomped past, unaware that their target had escaped.

He breathed a sigh of relief, managing to catch his breath. That had been the third time this month Anthony and his friends had tried to beat the living shit out of him. He was honestly surprised at how he had yelled at them like that; _no one_ messed with Anthony. And yet, there he had been, standing up to him like no one had before.

It was stupid and foolish of him to do so, though. He knew he’d be getting a black eye sometime later this week for what he had said.

“Hey! _Nene_! Get out of my shop!” A squat man with a big, bushy beard cane thundering toward him, waving a cane through the air. “You better not be trying to shoplift, or I swear, you’ll be wishing you were never born!”

Miguel quickly made his way to the door. “Sorry, _señor_! I wasn’t stealing anything, just hiding from some bullies!”

The man snorted. “Well, go hide somewhere else! I can’t have a bunch of ruffians messing up my shop! Do you _know_ how hard it was to arrange all of this stuff?”

“Yes, _señor_ , I’m sure it was very hard. Sorry again! Bye!” Miguel hurried for the door before the man could say anything else, then paused. He turned around. “Uh. Do you perhaps have a shirt I could use?”

“A shirt? Sure! Do you have ten dollars?”

Miguel opened his mouth, then closed it. “...No.”

The man squinted at him, then sighed. He lumbered back over to the cashier desk and bent down. When he stood back up again, he threw a red cloth at him.

Miguel caught it and spread it out. It was a shirt bearing a smiling dolphin with sunglasses. Above it’s head were the words I LOVE PUERTO RICO.

“What, is red not your color?” the man barked when he saw Miguel’s dumbfounded face. “Well, too bad! That’s the only shirt I’m giving you, so be thankful and get out!”

Miguel quickly put the shirt on and backed out of the shop. “T-Thank you, _señor_! I really appreciate it! I-I can pay you back-!”

“No! I never want to see your face here again! You’ll bring those unruly kids with you! Go!”

Miguel turned and ran without a second glance. He knew his mother would force him to return and pay the man back. He just hoped he wouldn’t run into Anthony while he did it.

Keeping a close eye out for the bullies, he made his way back to his home. The Delfuego family lived in a small apartment in the interior of San Juan, and below it, ran a local restaurant that served authentic Puerto Rican food. It was popular, especially with tourists, so Miguel, his parents, and his elderly grandmother lived a rather comfortable life. One wouldn’t call it luxury, but then again, a super-expensive house was the last thing Miguel wanted. As long as he had his family, everything was right with the world.

When he arrived, he was surprised to see an expensive-looking car parked just outside the restaurant. He stared at it for a few moments, transfixed by its shine and luster. His parents couldn’t afford a car like this, and no one he knew would ever drive a vehicle this impressive; it stood out too easily, and was a target for carjackers and thieves.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind him made him jump. Miguel whirled around and found himself staring up at a tall, fairly elderly man with hazel eyes and slicked-back white hair.

_An American?_ he thought. What was an American like this doing here? He didn’t look anything like a tourist.

“Care to tell me what you are doing, boy?” the stranger questioned.

_A British person._ The man’s thick English accent gave away his nationality. The minute he spoke, warning bells began going off in Miguel’s head. Something about this guy felt seriously _wrong_.

“I was just, uh…” He bit down his sudden fear and tried to find the correct words to piece together a coherent sentence. “...admiring your car? This is your car, right? I’m not mistaken?”

“You shouldn’t be touching things that don’t belong to you.” The stranger took a step forward, and Miguel instinctively backed up, his back hitting the car’s front. “What is your name?”

Miguel was too intimidated to lie. “M-Miguel.”

“Miguel?” The tone of the man’s voice suddenly changed. He sounded...interested? “Did I hear that correctly? Are you Miguel Delfuego?”

“Y-Yes.” Miguel blinked, shocked. “H-How do you know who I am?”

“Miguel!” Another voice broke into the conversation. Miguel turned to see his mother standing in the open doorway of their restaurant. Her face had an expression of fear upon it. “Come inside, now!”

“Ah, so it seems that we have found you at last.” The stranger smiled: the sight of it sent shivers down Miguel’s spine. “The warrior of fire. Let’s go inside, Mr. Delfuego. My name is Jonah. We have _much_ to talk about.”

—————

Dr. Emma Graham was a serious woman with long brown hair and intense chocolate eyes. Like Jonah, she had a wrongness to her, like she wasn’t who she said she was supposed to be, like she was hiding something dangerous, something that Miguel was sure he didn’t want to find out.

“So, you’re saying that our son is one of those...super-humans,” Mr. Delfuego said. They were seated at the small square table in their apartment kitchen. Miguel was seated next to his mother, holding her hand in his. Behind them, his grandmother was making tea, the clinking of the spoon against the mug similar to that of a ticking clock. 

“A Bonded,” Dr. Graham corrected. “A human-Titan hybrid with remarkable abilities. Monarch has been seeking his kind out, trying to reunite them with their respective Titans. And we’ve recently found your son’s.”

“But how did you know Miguel was a Bonded?” Mrs. Delfuego asked.

“That we cannot reveal. Monarch is extremely strict with how much we tell the public. All we can say is that we need your son to come with us immediately, so him and his Titan can join together.”

“So, you expect us to just _give_ you our son?” Mr. Delfuego said. “How do we know you aren’t lying? You can’t even tell us what Titan Miguel is bonded to, or how you even found out that he was a Bonded in the first place! I am sorry, but unless you can give us proof that you aren’t scammers or kidnappers, I will not allow you to take him away.”

“Please, Mr. Delfuego-”

“It’s Sebastian.”

“-Sebastian.” Dr. Graham had a pleading look on her face. “You don’t know how important this is for Monarch and the world. If we reunite Bondeds with their Titans, then disasters like Ghidorah and Rodan will be averted. You remember Rodan, don’t you? How he destroyed Isla de la Mara with absolutely no problem at all? Do you want another disaster like that to happen?”

Mr. Delfuego didn’t reply. He looked at his wife, who gave him a helpless shrug. He sighed and turned back to Dr. Graham. “We need to talk about it.”

Dr. Graham nodded. “Take your time.”

Miguel’s parents stood up. His mother squeezed his shoulder and gave him a comforting smile, before following his father into another room. The door was shut, and Miguel was left alone with the Monarch agents and his grandmother.

“So, you two are agents, huh?” Grandma Delfuego shuffled over to the table and set down two cups of tea. She studied them with an air of suspicion. “What exactly do you do over there in your top secret labs and bases?”

While Dr. Graham explained the history of Monarch to his grandmother, Miguel focused on Jonah. The man looked more like an aggressive terrorist than a peaceful scientist who worked in a laboratory.

“You don’t exactly _look_ like a Monarch agent,” he said.

“I’m top level,” Jonah said, smiling at him with all of his teeth.

“Have you ever killed anyone?” Miguel questioned.

Jonah’s smile widened. “That, I’m afraid, is classified.”

The door to the other room opened, and Miguel’s parents came out. There were tears in his mother’s eyes.  
  


“Miguel,” his father said. His tone was serious. “Do you really want to go with these people?”

Miguel looked at Alan Jonah and Dr. Graham. Going with these people was the last thing he wanted to do.  
  


But he then remembered what Dr. Graham had said. Did the world really need him to protect it from giant monsters? Was there really a Titan out there, waiting for him, connected to his soul?

If he went with Monarch...he would be following his destiny. Right? And if he had a giant monster as a friend, Anthony and the other boys would never bully him again!

“Dad, I-" Miguel swallowed hard and took in a shaky breath. “If this is really what I was born to do, I will do it. As long as I have you and Mom’s permission.”

His father sighed and looked at his mother. She shook her head and turned away, letting out a sob.

“Miguel, we will help you pack your bags,” Mr. Delfuego said. “You are going to Monarch.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	9. Outpost 92

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT MESSAGE AFTER CHAPTER!!! PLEASE READ!!!

The journey to Battra’s apparent hiding place took Cara and her friends all the way across the Pacific Ocean to Brazil, where the sightings of the rogue Titan first sprang up. Godzilla took the lead, with Madison riding on his back. Cara, Eddie, and Noah sat atop Mothra as she flew above Godzilla’s head, and not too far behind, the Argo followed, with Mr. Serizawa, Dr. Chen, Dr. Graham, and the G-Team on board. Rodan took up the rear, occasionally doing little flips and somersaults as he soared.

“Are you _sure_ Godzilla knows where he's going?” Eddie asked, gripping onto Cara’s shoulders so tightly, it was beginning to hurt. He still wasn’t completely comfortable with riding Mothra, even though he had been doing this for two years. “It seems like he’s just leading us in a straight line.”

“I trust he knows what to do,” Cara comforted. “Mothra said Darkners give off a very strong sulfur-like smell. I guess Godzilla’s picked up on it and is using it to track Battra.”

_“Darkners have a flame within them,”_ Mothra said. _“They use their flame to set their wings on fire, which can be both an intimidation and_ _attack tactic. This is why Battra smells of smoke and sulfur. It will grow stronger as we draw closer to him.”_

“And another thing,” Eddie continued. “What are we going to do when we _do_ get to where we’re going, and we _do_ find Battra. Are you guys going to kill him?”

“To avoid possibly damaging any surrounding villages or places, no, we’re not going to fight him,” Cara answered. “Plus, Mothra wants to avoid the possibility of me getting hurt through our link again. Godzilla’s being the same way with Madison.”

“Well, you guys might not want to kill him, but _he_ definitely wants to kill you,” Noah said. “You might not have a choice on whether you want to fight or not.”

_“Darkners, though violent, are an honorable species,”_ Mothra said. _“If we venture into Battra’s home with no intention of hurting him, he will return the action with being somewhat peaceful. The plan is to attempt to soothe Battra of his rage and hopefully stop his rampages without killing him or him trying to kill us.”_

“This isn’t going to end well,” Eddie muttered after Cara translated Mothra’s words to them. “I can feel it. _Nothing_ ends well for us when we deal with crazy giant monsters who want nothing more than for humans to go extinct.”

“Chill out, Eddie, we’ll be fine,” Cara said. “Besides, if Battra does decide to attack us, you won’t be the one doing the fighting. _You_ get to sit on the Argo while Madison, Godzilla, Mothra, and I do all the hard work.”

“Hey, just because I don’t have superpowers doesn’t mean I’m worthless!” Eddie cried indignantly.

“Yeah!” Noah agreed. “Remember when you were about to be cooked alive by your brother two years ago? Who was the one who bashed him over the head with a baseball bat and saved your ass? Eddie and I may not be psychically connected to a god and have cool powers, but we sure as hell don’t just sit around and let you do all the hard work when it comes to missions!”

“Oh, really?” Cara taunted, looking back at him with a smile. “Then why don’t _you_ go talk to Battra and ask him to stop attempting mass genocide on our species? I’m _positive_ he’ll listen to you.”

“Sure! Let me just catch up on my Titan-speak and learn his entire fucking _language_ in a matter of five minutes. Then I’ll go talk to him.”

“Noah, you couldn’t learn another language even if you tried,” Eddie said.

The three of them continued their light-hearted teasing, until their destination appeared on the horizon. Brazil was a place Cara had always wanted to visit, but she never had thought she'd be taking her dream trip under these serious terms. Mothra slowed and allowed the Argo to take the lead as the adults guided them toward where they were to land-an isolated airport not too far away from a small town.

A man was waiting for them when they arrived. He was tall and thin, with tanned brown skin and large sunglasses. Cara saw the Monarch emblem stitched onto the long white lab coat he wore as they got closer.

Mothra landed next to the Argo, and Godzilla lumbered over to them. The man hurried over and greeted them with a large, enthusiastic smile.

“Welcome!” he cried. “Welcome to Brazil! It is an honor to have you all here!”

“Dr. Santos,” Mr. Serizawa said, after the adults had gotten off the plane. “Thank you for meeting with us.”

“The pleasure is all mine, sir.” Dr. Santos shook his hand, then focused on Cara and Madison. “And look at this! The chosen ones of Titanus Mosura and Titanus Gojira have come with you! I am Dr. Jose Santos, chief scientist of Monarch Outpost 92. Please tell the king and queen that I am blessed to be in their mighty presence!”

_“He seems kind of loopy,”_ Godzilla mumbled to them.

_“Oh, hush Godzilla, be polite.”_ Mothra lightly smacked him with her wing. _“Cara, please tell Dr. Santos that we appreciate his kind words.”_

“Godzilla and Mothra appreciate your kind words,” Cara translated. “They think you are a very intelligent, trustworthy man who knows exactly what he's doing.”

Dr. Santos brightened. He stood taller and adjusted his tie. “Oh, wow. Really? They said that?”

_“No,”_ Godzilla said.

“Absolutely,” Madison said.

Cara had to turn and fake the appearance of sneezing to stop herself from laughing in front of the poor man. Godzilla grumbled and gave an unimpressed look to Madison. _“One day I’m going to eat you, mark my words.”_

“You’d have to catch me first,” Madison replied with a grin.

“Dr. Santos,” Mr. Serizawa interrupted. The adults gathered around them, ending the conversation. “We need you to bring us to the place where Titanus Battra emerged.”

Dr. Santos’ excited mood vanished. He took off his sunglasses and looked Mr. Serizawa in the eye. “Sir, I know that is the reason why you came here, but I have to advise against it. The Titan, Battra-it has returned.”

_“See, I told you,”_ Godzilla said proudly. _“My nose never fails.”_

“It came back around five hours ago. It burned down all the trees in the temple’s area so it could land.” Dr. Santos shook his head. “If anyone goes near it, I’m sure it will attack.”

“I know it is dangerous, Jose, but we don’t have a choice,” Dr. Chen said. “This Titan is a destroyer. It could spell out humanity’s doom if we do not stop it.”

_“Doubtful,”_ Godzilla snorted. _“I’ll rip his wings off before he tries to do that. He’s a moth, not a Voider.”_

“What are you planning to do when you get to the temple?” Dr. Santos asked. “Titanus Battra has already killed someone who ventured into its home. It will have no problem doing it again.”

“Wait-it already _killed_ someone here?” Mr. Serizawa exclaimed. “Who?”

“I can show you the remains, if you would like.” Dr. Santos started walking toward a squat building bordering the runway. “Come with me!”

As they followed, Cara switched on her earpiece. “Rodan? This is Cara. Do you copy?”

_“This is Rodan, I hear you.”_

“I need you to land somewhere where you can see Battra’s temple. Keep yourself hidden, though, so Battra won’t be able to see you if he comes out.”

_“Got it. I shall guard you guys from any danger coming your way.”_

She turned her earpiece off and looked at Mothra and Godzilla. “Do you want to come into the outpost with us, or would you guys rather stay out here? Rodan’s watching out for Battra in case he tries attacking us while we’re here, so he might need backup.”

_“If that is the case, then we shall remain out here,”_ Mothra answered.

Godzilla nodded in agreement. _“Let us know if you see anything weird in there.”_

“We will,” Cara said. “We won’t be long.”

When they walked into the building, Cara was met with a sense of deja vu. Outpost 92 was built similar to Mothra’s old outpost in China, the one she, Eddie, and Noah had sneaked into two years ago during their school’s winter vacation. Scientists scuttled around the building like bees, appearing to be so busy, they didn’t even acknowledge the presence of her and her friends. Dr. Santos was chatting away to Mr. Serizawa on their research of Battra.

“We managed to throw the outpost up rather quickly, after reports of an unidentified flying object began coming in from the surrounding towns. When we found the temple, we collected as much data and evidence as we could before the Titan returned. Our research tells us that this creature dates back centuries. There are legends surrounding Titanus Battra that speak of it being the son of the Earth herself, a hardened warrior to fight back against the destruction and tyranny of mankind. And then we found the body-or what’s left of it.”

He led them to a door, swiped his key card over the lock pad, then allowed them inside. Lying on a medical table stationed in the middle of the room was a pile of blackened bones- _human_ bones, Cara came to realize.

“Jesus Christ,” Noah murmured.

“Battra did this?” Dr. Graham asked.

Dr. Santos nodded. “We found him in the main part of the temple-right by some strange pedestal that seemed to be infused with what we came to the conclusion to be Titan blood. We took samples of the bone marrow and identified it as male.”

Cara took a cautious step forward, reaching out to touch the remains. Madison grabbed her arm and held her back. “Don’t,” she said. “They could burn you.”

“I assure you the bones are perfectly safe to touch,” Dr. Santos informed, though with mild bafflement. “Why you would _want_ to touch them, I have no idea, but you may do so if you wish.”

“See, Maddie? Perfectly safe. It’s fine.” Cara gently worked herself out of Madison's grip. “I’m just gonna try something-I don’t know if it’ll work, but it’s worth a shot.”

“Ooooh, look at that, she’s going to do some magic Bonded stuff.” Noah elbowed Eddie. “I always love when she does this, it’s so mysterious.”

“Noah, shut up, let me concentrate.” Cara took a deep breath, tried not to think about how she was basically about to handle a dead body, and laid her hand out on the bones.

Pictures began flooding into her mind the moment she closed her eyes. A man appeared before her, his aura glowing a bright green, so bright she couldn’t even see his face. A huge mammalian creature stood over him, the echoes of an elephant-like cry wafting to her ears.

“He...He was a Bonded,” she whispered.

“ _Huh_?” Noah gasped.

“The Bonded of who?” Dr. Graham questioned.

“It-It looks like Behemoth. The Titan that looks like a wooly mammoth crossed with a gorilla. Battra killed him.” She opened her eyes, and the vision disappeared. There was a strange sense of loss building in her heart. “I don’t understand. Why would Battra kill a Bonded he didn’t even know? Titans see us as their equals. Even _Ghidorah_ acknowledged that Bondeds were needed and shouldn’t be wiped out. Why’s Battra so different?”

“Maybe him and Behemoth did know each other at some point,” Eddie suggested. “Maybe they fought, and Battra has a grudge.”

“No, that can’t be it,” Dr. Santos said. “We found no evidence of any such event happening. Trust me, I have been working with Monarch for a long time; Titan battles and rivalries are _always_ recorded in legends and art from the past.”

“Maybe Battra is just an insane _madman_ that wants _all_ humans to go extinct, Bonded or not,” Madison said.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Cara said. “I have to go talk to Battra and find out why he’s doing this. That’s the only option here.”

“You are crazy!” Dr. Santos cried. “You want to go _talk_ to the monster that’s been setting villages all around South America on fire? You will end up just like the pile of bones on this table!”

“No, I won’t. Unlike this guy, I have my Titan with me. And she’s not just any ordinary Titan-she’s the queen of the monsters. Battra knows that if he kills me, he’s going to face the head-on wrath of Mothra. And that’s a risk he _won’t_ take.” Cara turned to look at Dr. Santos. “Bring me to his temple. It’s about time Battra and I have a little chat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone. I apologize for how late I am on posting this chapter. After I finished it, I came to the conclusion that my motivation to continue updating this story has gone out. That is the main reason why chapters have been coming out so late. As much as I want to continue writing this story, I just can't seem to get myself to be enthusiastic about it. I have begun to inadvertently focus on other ideas and stories that I want to write, and as much as it pains me, I have decided to put Rise of the Titans on hold for the time being. I can't write well enough to publish content that will make you all happy. Again, I apologize, and I hope that you will continue to read my stories even with Rise of the Titans on hiatus.  
> I feel horrible for cutting Rise of the Titans short, but I feel that it is necessary to get my creative juices flowing, and thus ignite that spark I had when I was writing the first Bonded, so I can someday finish Rise of the Titans.  
> Hope everyone is doing well and saying safe!  
> -Pocket-Kaiju


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